Lostentry

Tuesday, November 07, 2017

Dave Park's Cumberland West - Western Maryland

Tonight the Western Maryland was the active railroad. Contrary to the fully signaled B&O with big time main line railroading, the WM is scrappy and still uses Timetable & Train Order operation (TT&TO), which is a nice change I always enjoy.

I started the evening with finishing the Elkins Mine turn (EMT), switching Douglas Mine and taking the fully loaded coal train home to Knobmount Yard and on to Hagerstown.

That run took a surprisingly long time, ... but I wasn't exactly in a hurry, either. By the time I came back to the train master, the remaining pickings were slim. I got BT-1, a fast manifest from Hagerstown to Connellsville. There was traffic ahead of my train coming up from staging, the operators were busy with other trains, ... "wait and hurry up". I used the opportunity to chat and take photos.
When I got to Ridgley Yard it was pretty late in the evening already. BT-1 was too long for the yard, so the yard swapped cars on the main line, which ended up blocking the only through track in Ridgley to the detriment of all opposing trains.

Here's a section of my train on the main line. In front on the left is a west-bound passenger special holding short of Ridgley station, on the right the yard switcher with cars pulled from my train. In addition there was a coal train waiting behind the passenger special ... The car drivers probably needed infinite patience to wait for the railroad crossing to clear.

Once I had all the cars I needed, BT-1 proceeded through the Cumberland Narrows. The two-track B&O main line is on one side of the river, the single track WM on the other side.

A little bit later we see BT-1 at track speed entering Frostburg. Shortly after the run ended in the Connellsville staging portal.